Hoosier Men Be Stinky -- Basketball Team is Getting Whooped

    A lot of us had some high hopes in January. Despite struggling mightily in the earlier part of the season, losing embarrassingly to Louisville and another team in their tropical massacre of paradise, holding on to beat a so so Providence. They got whooped by Nebraska, away in the plains, as they usually do lately, because Indiana is no longer what we thought we had been... the 1970s, the 1980s, even the 1990s... Only a couple of teams this century have lived up to any Indiana nostalgia and wistful longing of championships. Ugh. Alas.

    I thought that we would have some good chances this year. Big man Oumar Ballo was supposed to bigger, better. Not really. At least he has improved his free throw shooting from the past. But his defense is not that great. Malik Reneau has been hurt, which has been good and bad. They learned to play without him, a powerful scoring forward inside, and beat Penn State and... who else? Rutgers, and... was it a lesser team like Minnesota? Oh, yeah, the other early losses now seem the norm, with Iowa in the plains again and now Illinois smashing us in the so-called friendly confines of Assembly Hall. 60-32 at the half. And then the second half surge could not even be sustained.

    Pathetic. We expected more out of these new guards from Washington State and Stanford. And Goode from Illinois. And what about Tre Galloway? Man! We cannot play well enough.

    Then there is the enigma Mackenzie Mbako. He should be playing so much better. He has disappeared for stretches of multiple games. Leal comes off the bench and brings some sparks but goofs up, too.

    I thought he was part of the IU renaissance. Mike Woodson and all them. It looks bad.

    We are desperate to play well, just comepetively.

    Maybe not this year, either.

    Maybe not this decade? Ever? When will the terrible losing end?

    Now, to be fair, Tennessee or undefeated Florida can get their wheels blown off on any given night. UConn and Duke and everyone else loses. But not like this.

    My Hoosiers are on the brink of being losers. Like too many years since.. 2002... or the early 1990s.

    Can we get better?

    Next up: struggling Ohio State. Stay tuned. Maybe.

    Ugh.